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Saturday, 19 October 2013

The Indian Army is
set to achieve a feat of having conducted military exercises with all the five
permanent UN Security Council members within a year (2013). The five countries
- US, UK France, Russia and China (P5) - enjoy a veto vote in the powerful UN
Security Council being its permanent members for more than five decades.

India is an
aspirant for becoming the sixth permanent member to the council which is seen
as global-high table of decision making.

Today, the
India-Russia military exercise commenced in Rajasthan. Using the mechanised
infantry, specialised troops carrying armoured vehicles, the two countries have
tasked their soldiers to practice the ability to operate jointly as integrated
forces. The 10-day long exercise ends on October 28 and is part of the annual
exercise ‘Indra’. “It is aimed to improve defence cooperation between both
armies and enhance their ability to operate as integrated forces in a
well-coordinated manner at the tactical level, within the framework of UN
peacekeeping operations,” officials said.

After completing
the engagement with Russia, an Indian Army infantry contingent from the 16th
Sikh Light Infantry moves to Chengdu China for a joint exercise between the two
armies. This will be codenamed ‘hand-in-hand’ and will mark the resumption of
formal military exercises since the suspension of defence relations between the
two countries in 2009. It will be conducted from November 4 to 14 making India
one of the very few countries, who would have practiced with forces of the five
UN Security Council members within one year.

The Indian Army’s
run of such high-profile exercises started in April when the British troops
arrived for an exercise at Belgaum, Karnataka, for a month-long joint exercise.
Code named ‘Ajeya Warrior’ it was to test the preparedness of both the armies
to carry out joint counter-insurgency operations.

In September,
Paris hosted Indian Army for a joint exercise ‘Shakti’ in the French Alps. This
was the second joint military exercise between the two countries. In the first
week of October, Indian and US soldiers troops practised an amphibious war
scenario - that is landing troops near a sea beach using specialised ships.

The high five

Hand-in-hand: After military exercise with
Russia, an infantry contingent moves to China for a joint exercise there

Ajeya Warrior: Joint exercise with Britain
to test the preparedness to carry out joint counter-insurgency operations, in
April

Shakti: In September, Paris hosted Indian
Army for a joint exercise in the French Alps at Grenoble

Shatrujeet: In the first week of October,
Indian and US soldiers practised landing troops near a sea beach

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20131019/edit.htm#1

Artillery woes

Find a route to
reverse this obsolescence

The Army’s
second-largest arm, the Regiment of Artillery, continues to be a victim of
repeated setbacks that has caused it to remain the most obsolescent wings of
the Army. In the latest such incident, BAE, the maker of the M777 ultra light
howitzer (ULH) for which India had contracted purchase of 145 pieces, has
reportedly decided to shut down its production line in the UK. This is a
setback for two reasons. One, the ULH was meant to equip the Army’s recently
sanctioned first-ever Mountain Strike Corps which is vital weaponry for such a
formation. Second, the purchase was to be made from the US under the foreign
military sales programme, which is a route devoid of kickbacks and therefore
safe from controversies that have otherwise mired defence negotiations.

Artillery guns
play a crucial role in supporting both Infantry and Armour formations by
softening the enemy through brute firepower from a distance of 40 km and
beyond. It is especially critical in mountains where mobility of Infantry
soldiers is slow. The Army has made some progress in acquiring surveillance and
target acquisition equipment (unmanned aerial vehicles and gun-locating
radars), rocket artillery (Smerch and Pinaka) and missiles (Prithvi and
BrahMos). But it is seriously lacking in medium artillery guns. Just how
outdated continues to be the Regiment of Artillery is borne by the fact that it
has Soviet-era 130 mm M46 field guns, 122 mm D30 towed howitzers and 105 mm
light field guns. The ‘latest’ artillery gun, the Bofors 155 mm FH77/B
howitzer, was purchased almost three decades ago. The 1999 Kargil War
demonstrated the criticality of both the artillery and the 155 mm howitzer.
Instead, the Army is down to just 200 pieces of this 155 mm howitzer.

In recent years,
all attempts to buy the much-needed ULHs, towed artillery and both tracked and
wheeled self-propelled guns have been victims of last-minute cancellations due
to a mix of allegation of kickbacks, blacklisting of firms or the inability of
the manufacturer to come up to expectation. All that the Army has managed is
acquire 180 pieces of 130 mm guns upgraded to 155 mm / 45 calibre by an Israeli
firm. But with most artillery gun producers being blacklisted and Indian
private firms having no experience of making such guns, the Artillery remains
horrifically outdated. Clearly, the government needs to find a route to reverse
this obsolescence, a situation that the Army can ill afford.

http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/10/18/indi-o18.html

Indian government
covers up military’s anti-constitutional activities

By Kranti Kumara

18 October 2013

Over the past
month a series of Indian media reports and comments by retired Indian Army
chief V. K. Singh have revealed that the Indian army has been engaged in
numerous illegal and unconstitutional activities, including attempting to
overthrow an elected state government, bribing politicians, and bugging
Ministry of Defence officials.

The Congress
Party-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government has responded to these
explosive revelations with indifference, issuing pro forma statements that the
matters are being investigated and that appropriate action has and will be
taken.

The government’s
concerted attempt to suppress public interest in the revelations is all the
more remarkable given that V.K. Singh, who is at the center of the allegations
of wrongdoing, is a longtime government opponent. Not only did he repeatedly
butt heads with the Congress-led UPA while army chief, he has openly identified
himself with the Congress’ chief rival, the BJP, appearing last month alongside
the BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, at his maiden campaign
rally.

On Sept. 20, The
Indian Express published a report revealing that V.K Singh had set up a secret
intelligence unit reporting directly to him that had sought to use bribery to
bring down the elected state government of Jammu and Kashmir, paid an NGO to
sully the reputation of his successor with a view to derailing his appointment,
and bought “off-air interception equipment” to conduct “unauthorized” covert
operations, including eavesdropping on the Ministry of Defence (MOD).

The Indian Express
exposé was based on the findings of a high-level army inquiry ordered by Bikram
Singh, who became army chief in May 2012 after V.K. Singh retired.

The army had forwarded
its findings to the government way back in March. So alarmed was the army’s top
brass by the transgressions, it asked the government to order an investigation
by the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation), an agency charged with probing
criminal activities by top officials and institutions.

In doing so, the
army took a virtually unheard-of step; the military has always been loath to
allow “outsiders” to “intrude” on its affairs. That it did so suggests that it
does not have confidence in the willingness or ability of either the military
or the MOD to lay bare what has happened and punish the guilty.

The government,
however, apparently saw no urgency in acting on the army report and has thus
far refused to say what if anything it has done in response to it.

When reporters
enquired as to the MOD’s reaction to the Indian Express exposé, an MOD
spokesperson stated: "The [army] report impinges on matters of national
security and, as such, the government will take a decision and further actions
after a careful examination of the report.”

In response to a
supplementary question, the MOD official said no decision has been taken on
whether to ask the CBI to investigate the patently illegal and unconstitutional
activities of the secret army intelligence unit.

That the
government has yet to carry out a “careful examination of the report” after the
passage of a half-year indicates that it intends to bury the matter. At most it
will carry out a few changes in appointments and procedure, in secret and in
close consultation with the military top brass.

What is
incontrovertible is that the government wants to keep the Indian people
entirely in the dark as to the anti-democratic conspiracies that are developing
from within the country’s national-security apparatus. Similarly, the Indian
government and press have refused to conduct any serious examination of the
ties that have developed between current and retired military personnel,
including officers, and violent Hindu supremacist groups. (See: India army
officers linked to Hindu supremacist terrorism )

Soon after the
appearance of the Indian Express article and in an attempt to explain away the
giving of money to a Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) politician by the secret army
intelligence unit under his supervision, V. K. Singh said that the army has
long used secret funds to bribe J&K ministers. Moreover, he added, this has
been standard practice since India gained political independence from Britain
in 1947.

India’s only
Muslim majority state, Jammu and Kashmir has been convulsed by an anti-Indian
insurgency since 1989. The Indian army has combatted this insurgency, which
erupted in response to the central government’s flagrant rigging of the 1987
state election, with all-manner of anti-democratic methods, including torture,
disappearances and summary executions.

"The Army,”
said the ex-Army Chief V.K. Singh, “transfers money to all the ministers in
Jammu and Kashmir... there are various things to be done. As part of the
stabilising factor in Jammu and Kashmir, as part of the activities to be
organized."

When asked whether
the secret army unit under his immediate command had used its funds to bribe
J&K Agriculture Minister Ghulam Hassan Mir as alleged by the Army probe, V
K Singh said, "If such a possibility is there, I am sure there must be a
reason for a particular transaction or number of transactions to this person.”

V.K. Singh added
that the army has doled out these funds, from secret slush funds, without the
knowledge, let alone oversight, of its ostensible civilian overlords. When
questioned about whether the use of such funds had the approval of the Minister
of Defense, Singh bristled, demonstrating his contempt for the subordination of
the military to civilian authorities. “He doesn’t have to be aware of it. He has
given us a task and we carry it out.”

Singh’s remarks
caused an outcry in Jammu and Kashmir, where the political elite felt compelled
to demonstrably protest against the claim that they were routinely accepting
army bribes.

The Congress-led
central government, by contrast, has ignored them. This is in keeping with its
attempt to suppress all public discussion of the anti-constitutional activities
of sections of the military.

When the Indian
Express exposé appeared, the BJP leaped to V.K. Singh’s defence. It charged
that the government had leaked the army report so as to smear the ex-army chief
after he had indicated his support for Modi. The Congress responded by saying
it would never use such tactics as they would harm “national security.”

However, after
V.K. Singh revealed that the army had long been bribing politicians in Jammu
and Kashmir, the BJP thought it politic to distance themselves from him, as
this revelation was seen as damaging to India’s efforts to legitimize its rule
over the state, which is claimed by India’s arch-rival Pakistan.

The Congress
government’s opposition to exposing and alerting the Indian people as to the
anti-democratic and unconstitutional activities of military leaders reveals its
indifference and hostility to fundamental democratic rights. It fears exposure
of these activities would undermine the popular legitimacy of the military and
at the very least undermine support for it and the Indian elites’ plans to
massively expand India’s armed forces. The Indian bourgeoisie views an expanded
military—including a blue-water Indian Ocean navy and a sea, land and air
nuclear strike force—as pivotal to realizing its great power ambitions.
Moreover, it recognizes the military as the ultimate bulwark of its class rule.
Under the UPA government’s Operation Greenhunt, the military has taken an
increasingly important role in directing the government’s campaign to defeat a
Maoist-led tribal insurgency in some of India’s remoter highland and jungle
regions.

KOLKATA: What is
it to India that Bhutan's King Jigme Singhe Wangchuk, who will turn 56 a month
from now, is a keen cyclist? Not much, but for the fact that it has provided an
opportunity to the Indian Army to display the cordial relationship it shares
with Bhutan Army. On Friday, a weeklong Indo-Bhutan Army Cycling Expedition was
flagged into Sukna Cantonment in North Bengal. The expedition was flagged-off
on October 12 in Bhutan and travelled through Chimakothi, Hasimara, Binnaguri,
Bagrakot, Pedong and Sevoke.

"This was an
important event. Ties between the Indian and Bhutan armies are crucial. There
is Chinese activity in the Chumbi Valley region and the country has laid stake
on the Doklam Platuea in Bhutan. The plateau practically overlooks the 'chicken-neck'
corridor that connects India's northeast to the remaining part of the country.
If China were to go ahead unhindered, the People's Liberation Army could be
patrolling the northern boundary of the Siliguri or 'chicken-neck' corridor.
This would jeopardize India's military movement in that area," a senior
officer said.

The Indo-Bhutan
Army Cycling Expedition was led by Lieutenant AK Singh of the Indian Army. All
throughout the route, the cyclists were accompanied by vehicles with banners
highlighting Indo-Bhutan Friendship. The cyclists were met enroute by the
general officer commanding of the Kripan Division. At Sukna, the participants
were welcomed and felicitated by Lieutenant General KJ Singh, GOC, Trishakti
Corps. Both the Trishakti Corps and the Kripan Division under it are entrusted
with security along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

"Lieutenant
General Singh highlighted the cordial relations between the Indian and Bhutan
armies and said that such activities would further cement the ties between the
two countries. Military ties between the two countries go back a long way.
Nearly 10 years ago, the Royal Bhutanese Army conducted flushing-out operations
against anti-India insurgents. Officers of the Bhutan army receive training in
India," the official added.

In the recent
past, there has been some resentment in Bhutan over India's plans to reduce
subsidies to the land-locked country. China has been quick to capitalize on
this. However, China's claim over land in Doklam, Jakarlung and Pasamlung
hasn't gone down well with Bhutan. The new government in Bhutan has expressed
its desire to improve ties with India further. While experts believe that Delhi
should take up this opportunity to reciprocate and reclaim any ground it may
have lost, the Indian Army, concerned about the possibility of the PLA marching
across Bhutan, is keeping the show going.

The defence public
relations officer, group captain Basantkumar B Pande said Col RK Pathak, the
commanding officer of 111 Infantry battalion (Territorial army) Kumaon briefed
the lieutenant general about the training activities and events being
undertaken by the battalion.

The lieutenant
general interacted with the officers and junior commissioned officers (JCOs) of
the unit and inspected the unit lines. Thereafter, he interacted with all the
troops of the battalion and exhorted them to work zealously in all the tasks
assigned to them. He emphasised the importance of security in the present day
scenario and conveyed his appreciation for all the good work being done by the
battalion in various parts of the country.

Meanwhile, the
authorities of the 508 Army base workshop celebrated the 70th EME Corps Day on
Tuesday last. A special joint sammelan, presided over by brigadier SP Singh,
the commandant and managing director of the base workshop, was also held on the
occasion which was attended by all the employees of the workshop.

Messages received
from headquarters were read out during the sammelan, highlighting the
achievement of the Corps. Among these, prominent messages were from chief of
Army Staff, General Bikram Singh, Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM), Uttam Yudh
Seva Medal UYSM), Ati Vishist Seva Medal (AVSM), Sena Medal (SM), Vishisht Seva
Medal (VSM) and Aide-de-Camp. Along with this, messages from lieutenant general
AS Chabbewal, (AVSM, YSM) and lieutenant general NB Singh, (AVSM, VSM),
director general (DG) and senior colonel commandant, Corps of Electronics and
Mechanical engineers and other senior officers were also read out.

In his address,
brigadier SP Singh said that with rapid modernisation of the Indian Army, the
Corps is facing an ever-increasing challenge to provide effective engineering
support to a plethora of sophisticated equipment being inducted. With a dynamic
approach and continuous thrust, the Corps has made phenomenal progress over the
years and kept pace with the changing technological and economic environments.
On the occasion, awards for professional excellence were also given to the
employees based on their performance, informed the defence PRO.